Premio Nacional de Sociología y Ciencia Política 2003

Salustiano del Campo was born in 1931 in La Linea de la Concepcion, Cadiz, but spent most of his academic career in Madrid. He graduated in law in 1954 and in 1955 he obtained a Population Council Inc grant. This allowed him to continue his studies at Chicago University, where he remained until 1957, obtaining the Free Press Prize for general studies and specialising in a sociology doctorate at the university. Following his return to Spain, in 1959, he was awarded a special prize for his political sciences doctoral thesis on "La familia española en transición". In 1960 he took charge of the sociology chair in the Faculty of Political Sciences in Madrid.

He consolidated his academic career in 1962 with his successful bid for the sociology chair at Barcelona University's Faculty of Political, Economic and Business Sciences. At Barcelona University he was extremely active in establishing and developing the teaching of sociology, leaving behind him several disciples and significantly influencing many economics students, in whom he awakened an interest for social matters and sociological approaches. In 1967 he won the sociology chair in Madrid, at the Faculty of Political, Economic and Business Sciences, where he contributed actively to the development of what is today the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, where he was Dean between 1977 and 1980, and was Head of the Social Structure Department from 1971 to 1999.

In his teaching career he introduced innovative features into usual Spanish university practices during the sixties and seventies. He held seminars with outstanding students from different years, introducing them to empirical research methods, particularly the survey techniques that were later to become so popular. Many of today's professors in this discipline found encouragement in these seminars for their sociological vocation and received their first invitations to publish bibliographic comments or articles in social science journals.

In 1979 he was appointed a tenured member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, which he joined in 1980, with a paper on "El ciclo vital de la familia española". He was the third sociology professor to join this Academy – after Manuel Sales y Ferré and Severino Aznar. In 1984 he was appointed Treasurer of this institution and in 1985 as Secretary (re-elected to the present day). Likewise, in 1994 he was appointed Second Vice Chairman of the Instituto de España, and in 1997 he became First Vice Chairman.

One of the most notable aspects of Salustiano del Campo's intellectual and social career is his work as promoter and editor of different social and economic publications. These include, technical secretary for the Revista de Estudios Políticos , 1957; editor of the Colección de Estudios de Sociología of the Political Studies Institute in 1961; member of the editorial boards of the Revista Economía Política, the Revista de Estudios Sociales, and the Revista Internacional de Sociología; editor of the Revista Española de la Opinión Pública and founder and editor of the Revista Anales de Sociología in Barcelona. These activities later led to posts as editor of The European, 1983-1984, and as Chairman-editor of Imagen Semanal, 1986-1988.

A second aspect in his intellectual career that merits attention is his research activity. He was the main driver and founder of the Spanish Institute of Public Opinion (Instituto Español de la Opinión Pública, IOP), today the Centre for Sociological Research (Centro de investigaciones Sociológicas, CIS), which pioneered public opinion studies. He was appointed Chief Executive in 1963 and was Director from 1967 to 1971.

A third aspect of his work has been the general books he has published on Sociology and Social Sciences, principal among which were the UNESCO Diccionario de Ciencias Sociales (Dictionary of Social Sciences), a huge work published in two volumes that was particularly influential in Spanish speaking countries, and the Tratado de Sociología (Treatise on Sociology), also in two volumes, which has been published in several editions since 1985.

The fourth aspect is his work with the United Nations, especially on topics related to population studies. In 1960 he was Associate Social Affairs Officer at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in the United Nations Secretariat in New York. From 1969 to 1973 he was the Spanish representative in the Population Commission of the United Nations. From 1974 to 1982 he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Spanish National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO. In 1976, he was chosen for a second period of four years as the Spanish representative in the Population Commission of the United Nations.

Salustiano del Campo's scientific output has been very broad. He has published 24 books as sole author, a further 16 as editor or co-author and close to 200 monographs and scientific articles. His major studies span five large thematic areas. Firstly, there are family studies, initiated with his doctoral thesis published in 1960 under the title of La familia española en transición (The Spanish family in transition), and later works such as El desarrollo de la familia española en el siglo XX (Alianza Editorial, 1982) (The development of the Spanish family in the 20th century); Análisis sociológico de la familia española (Ariel, 1985) (Sociological analysis of the Spanish family); La “nueva” familia española (Eudema, 1991) (The 'new' Spanish family); Familias: Sociología y Política (Complutense University, 1995) (Families, Sociology and Politics); etc. A second theme is population and demographic policies, a subject on which he has published several of his most outstanding books: Análisis de la población española (Ariel, 1972) (Analysis of the Spanish population); La política demográfica de España (Edicusa, 1974) (Demographic policy in Spain); La explosión demográfica y la regulación de la natalidad (Síntesis, 1997) (The demographic explosion and birth control), etc. A third aspect is social indicators, with works such as Los indicadores sociales a debate (FOESSA, 1972) (Social indicators under discussion). A fourth theme has been that of social change and especially, in more recent years, social trends, subjects of his book, La sociedad (Society), published in 1972, part of the trilogy of La España de los años 70 (Spain of the 1970s); La Sociedad de clases medias (Austral, 1989) (Middle class society) and Estudios sobre Tendencias sociales en España (1960.1990) (BBV Foundation, 1993) (Studies on social trends in Spain). Lastly, a fifth area of reference has been his other academic works on Sociology, including his first manual, La Sociología científica moderna (Modern scientific sociology), which was first published in 1962. His more recent works have been Historia de la Sociología Española (Ariel, 2001) (History of Spanish sociology), Perfil de la Sociología Española (Catarata-Complutense University, 2001) (Profile of Spanish sociology) and La institucionalización de la Sociología (CIS, 2001) (The institutionalisation of sociology), stemming from his initiatives as head of the Commission for the Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the First Sociology Chair.

With such a broad and prolific output, it would be no exaggeration to say that Salustiano del Campo has played an outstanding role in one of the decisive stages of the development and institutionalisation of sociology in Spain. This stage would not have been possible without his pioneering work, his research studies, the many doctoral theses that he supervised (62) and without his capacity to encourage and guide so many sociologists, who currently work in various fields of this discipline.

On the human and professional level, all of us who worked with Salustiano del Campo have been recipients of his encouragement and his great capacity for selfless and objective support, which is not always easy to find in Spanish universities. In the university departments he directed and in the sociological tasks he undertook, he made sure to include people with different orientations and career paths. This talent for bringing people together, which he demonstrated during the latter stages of the Franco regime, was an example of his dedication to the university and universalism. During those years, many people with different ideologies worked with him, demonstrating the extent to which they valued, beyond any other extra-academic consideration, his capacity for work, his skill as a researcher and his professionalism, rigour and responsibility when undertaking an academic or research task.

For these reasons, when Salustiano del Campo retired, a group of friends, colleagues and followers wanted to give him well-deserved recognition with a tribute book. The book was sponsored by a Commission of eight Professors of Sociology from various universities: María Ángeles Durán, CSIC researcher and President, at that time, of the Federación Española de Sociología, FES (Spanish Federation of Sociology), Rodolfo Gutiérrez, senior professor at the University of Oviedo, Julio Iglesias de Ussel, senior professor at the University of Granada, Antonio Izquierdo, senior professor at the University of La Coruña, Carlota Solé, senior professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Carmelo Lisón Tolosana and Manuel Navarro, senior professors at the Complutense University of Madrid and José Félix Tezanos, senior professor of the UNED (National University of Distance Learning).

Because of the particular focus that Salustiano del Campo placed on the study of social structure and dynamics, this was the subject chosen for the central theme of the tribute book. All the chairs in sociology from Spanish universities were invited to contribute, as well as members of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences and several reputed professors from universities in other countries with whom Salustiano del Campo had had a special intellectual relationship. The Commission members also included some tenured professors particularly well known for their work on these subjects. It was not possible for everyone who had said they wanted to take part to be included. The logical limits of a book such as this one were the single basis for the way in which the Commission selected the contributions received.

The result of this initiative was a 1,248-page book, which was published thanks to the selfless support of the Centre for Sociological Research (Centro de investigaciones Sociológicas, CIS), in particular its President, Professor Ricardo Montoso, as well as the book's publishers, Jaime Peón and Mercedes Contreras, who devoted so much commitment and dedication to it. This book is divided into six parts, with a biographical prologue and a final interview, totalling 70 contributions. The first part includes various articles considering diverse theories on change and introductory approaches. The second part analyses major change and social processes. The third part addresses political changes, the fourth discusses economic changes and processes, the fifth focuses on cultural changes and anthropological approaches. The sixth explores other processes of change, with special reference to technological innovation.

The book, published as a tribute to Salustiano del Campo, can be considered to be an obligatory reference work for those wishing to extend their studies of social structure and change in the context of the complex societies of our time. The book itself is a good example of the degree of maturity reached by sociology in Spain and of the consolidation of a process of institutionalisation in which the person to whom it is dedicated invested so much of his own commitment. This is what makes this tribute book a good example of the value and results of a commendable enterprise.